Montblanc & Salzburg Festival Young Directors Project 2014

Four International ProductionsIn 2014 Sven-Eric Bechtolf, Director of Drama at the Salzburg Festival, presents two YDP productions at the republic and one each at ARGEkultur and at the Kunstquartier. The YDP co-production with the Düsseldorf Schauspielhaus, Hinkemann, the expressionist masterwork by Ernst Toller, will be shown in a production by the young Serbian director Miloš Lolić. The writer Walter Kappacher from Salzburg has written a play about the Salzburg poet Georg Trakl for the Salzburg Festival. It is called Der Abschied and will have its world premiere as part of YDP in a production by Nicolas Charaux. Little Bulb Theatre from London comes to YDP with a very humorous Orpheus, who looks surprisingly like Django Reinhardt and is directed by Alexander Scott. And in a co-production with the Mozarteum, the students of the acting, stage design and directing classes of the Mozarteum University will join forces under the leadership of Hans-Werner Kroesinger to search for traces of the years 1914 to 1918. Working title: 36566 Tage.
All performances will be offered in their original languages with English or German surtitles; thus, they address the broad, international Festival audience.

The Jury of the Young Directors ProjectOnce again, the jury includes Dr. Helga Rabl-Stadler (President of the Salzburg Festival) and Thaddaeus Ropac (Galerie Ropac), who have accompanied the project since its very beginning. We are delighted to welcome Jürgen Flimm, the founder of YDP and currently Artistic Director of the Berlin State Opera Unter den Linden, as a new member of this year’s jury. Further new additions are Georg Schmiedleitner, the director of this year’s Festival production Die letzten Tage der Menschheit, as well as Julia Gschnitzer, who currently plays the role of Jedermann’s Mother at the Festival.

Award Ceremony for the Montblanc Young Directors Award 2014Thursday, August 21, 2014In addition to sponsoring the entire project, Montblanc also donates the prize for the best production. The winner of the 2014 Montblanc Young Directors Award receives the sum of € 10,000 as well as the Montblanc Mozart Pen, designed exclusively for this project.

Final Young Directors Project powered by Montblanc at the Salzburg FestivalBy the end of this summer, a total of 51 YDP productions from 23 countries and four continents will have conquered the Salzburg Festival’s various performance venues, enriching the programme enormously with contemporary theatrical formats. With its goal of supporting rising talent, the Young Directors Project has given young directors and their ensembles from all over the world the chance to embark upon successful careers. The programme was influenced decisively by the Salzburg Festival’s directors of drama. Their goal was to introduce young artists whose work they found trendsetting for the future of theatre: After Jürgen Flimm (2002-2004), the position was held by Martin Kušej (2005–2006), Thomas Oberender (2007–2011) and Sven-Eric Bechtolf (since 2012).
Sven-Eric Bechtolf is grateful to Montblanc for its support and generosity over all these years, and to Jürgen Flimm, who initiated the Young Directors Project.